The deal, announced Monday, includes new benefits for nearly 130 guild members across the Chicago Sun-Times and its suburban network of seven daily papers and 32 weeklies.

It also enables the Sun-Times to hire back some of the 28 photographers that were laid off in May, but with a new job description that includes extensive video work, according to sources.

"We are moving rapidly to change our business to meet new needs of our readers and advertisers," Jim Kirk, publisher and editor of Chicago Sun-Times, said in a joint statement with the guild. "This new agreement will ensure that our employees and management are working together to meet the demands of the market. We were able to reach an agreement that reflects the financial pressures of our business."

The new contract covers members of the guild at the Sun-Times, Pioneer Press newspapers, the Northwest Indiana Post-Tribune, the Joliet Herald-News and Lake County News-Sun, pending ratification meetings scheduled for Dec. 2 and 3.

"We are extremely pleased that we have a new deal for our members," David Pollard, president of the Chicago Newspaper Guild, said in the statement. "Myself along with the members of Chicago Newspaper Guild look forward to working with the company to achieve its objectives and are ready to move forward with management to make sure the company remains successful."

The contract goes into effect Jan. 1 and does away with an annual two-week unpaid furlough for guild members, one of a number of concessions made by the union when Chicago financier Jim Tyree bought the Sun-Times out of bankruptcy in 2009.

Enacted in lieu of wage cuts, sources say the union furlough was no longer a financial benefit to Sun-Times Media management, which has reduced staffing during the past four years, most notably its entire photography staff this spring.

A total of 28 full-time photographers were cut loose, with the Sun-Times relying on freelance photographers and reporters to shoot photos and videos since May. Among those laid off was longtime Sun-Times photographer John H. White, who won a Pulitzer Prize for feature photography in 1982.

Previously, there were limits on using photographers to shoot video, an area of emphasis for the Sun-Times going forward. Under the new deal, photographers would be required to perform in a multimedia capacity, according to sources.

The guild, which represents 17 of the 28 photographers, filed a complaint this summer with the National Labor Relations Board over the mass firings. A guild spokeswoman said that as part of the agreement, the complaint would be dropped, and at least some of those photographers would get their jobs back.

"As part of the settlement, some of them will be brought back to work," said Beth Kramer, a spokeswoman for the guild. "We don't know for sure what the number is or who they will be or which publications they're going to go to, but some of them will be getting their jobs back."